The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has declared force majeure on the Offa 132kV transmission substation in Kwara State after armed men reportedly invaded the facility, held workers hostage at gunpoint, and forced a temporary shutdown of electricity feeders.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the company said the attack occurred in the early hours of Thursday when heavily armed assailants stormed the substation in Offa and gained access to the control room.
According to the TCN’s general manager for public affairs, Ndidi Mbah, the attackers ordered operators on duty to disconnect key electricity feeders supplying power from the station.
“The attackers ordered the operator on duty to open both the Offa and Ojoku 33kV feeders at exactly 12:45am on Thursday,” Mbah said. “They further demanded a total shutdown of the substation.”
She added that staff on duty were held hostage throughout the operation while the gunmen tampered with critical control equipment.
“During the incident, control switches and relay buttons were tampered with, and the 40MVA transformer was opened at approximately 1:07am,” the statement said.
The company said power supply was gradually restored shortly afterwards. According to TCN, the 40MVA transformer was restored at 1:13am, while the Offa and Ojoku 33kV feeders were reconnected minutes later.
The motive behind the attack was not immediately clear, and authorities had yet to confirm whether the incident was linked to broader insecurity affecting parts of the country.
TCN said it regretted the disruption caused by the incident and reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining electricity transmission across Nigeria.
“TCN regrets the inconvenience this incident may have caused and reaffirms its mandate to transmit bulk electricity efficiently to distribution companies’ load centres across the country,” the statement added.
